Results—General population studies of Mexican Americans have found that between 12% and
18% meet the cutoff for being at risk of depression; however, 40% of the sample met this criterion.
Younger caregiver age, lower levels of caregivers’ education, and higher levels of the patients’ mental
illness symptoms were predictive of higher levels of caregivers’ depressive symptoms. Caregivers’
perceived burden mediated the relation between patients’ psychiatric symptoms and caregivers’
depression. Caregivers’ perceived stigma was significantly related to caregivers’ depressive
symptoms, even when the analyses statistically adjusted for psychiatric symptoms and demographic
variables.